It’s not THAT you have writer's block (because most of us do at some point or another), but WHY you have it!
We often think of writer's block as the stereotypical scenario of sitting in front of a blank screen and being unable to come up with any ideas. The words just won't flow. I addressed these "Creative Blocks" here.
Sometimes your inability to write isn't a creative issue, but a structural one. Structural blocks have to do with the organization of and approach to the writing once you’ve overcome your creative blocks.
Timeline Trap
Writers often feel they have to write from beginning, to middle, to end. This is what you were taught as a preschooler. It’s time to move beyond such elementary concepts. Write the part of your story that is calling to you in a given moment.
You can write completely out of order and later choose to connect those pieces. Fiction stories can be connected through transitions and nonfiction writing can use non-content incorporation.
I teach some of these methods in my second book of the “Let Go” series, Let Go Of The Orange.
The third and last structural block comes in how you actually outline and put together your book. I suggest using a bit of a concept and structure to roadmap process. This approach is greatly detailed through my Book-in-a-Month program; however, a broad overview is to break down your content in a table as follows:
What is the theme of each chapter?
Who is the central character?
What important event is occurring?
What is revealed?
What concept is taught?
Essentially, you are thinking of three to seven questions and you tie each of those things together with artistic writing elements. Then, order your book such that it makes logical sense in addition to having ups and downs/ebbs and flows in the action and relationships so that your reader will stay interested.
Also in Book-in-a-Month are great tools to introduce and conclude your stories in order to create a full-circle structure that carries your reader along for the whole ride. By using a table put together in this described manner, you can approach your story in that non-linear way, and escape the Timeline Trap.
Organization and Management
The second structural issue is based in content and time management. As writer's, we aren't always the most organized people.
Here are a few tips to help manage your organization that go beyond a file system on your computer or a hardcopy filing approach:
Install a note application for phone, tablet, or computer
ColorNote (Looks like post-its)
Organize themes, stories, or types of subject by color
Use Google Keep
Free
Accessible anywhere with wi-fe
File-style organization system
Allows different types of saves (social media, quotes, excerpts, visual)
Utilize phone while out-and-about
Capture ideas when they hit
Use drive-time to dictate voice-to-text style
Get Over Your Blocks
Now that you’ve tackled both creative and structural blocks, you’re two thirds of the way to a continuous flow of words!
Keep up your great blockbreaking work by picking up your copy of Let Go Of The Orange! The tools of this second blockbreaker book are specifically created to tap into both your right and left-brain functions for your greatest creative engagement. Exercises, including Color Focus, Seasonal Writing, Non-Content Incorporation, and One-Sheeters will get your synapses firing away so that writer’s block can be a thing of the past!
Also, you can still get your copy of the #1 Bestselling Let Go Of The Apple!